500 Posts and a Giveaway!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and

especially to my beloved mother, who brought all 5 of us with lots of love and perseverance.
She will be 93 this coming July and still going strong. I hope I still have at least 20 more years with her.

Time flies especially when we are having fun. And I am having a lot of fun blogging.
I cannot believe I have reached my 500 posts. I think this is actually my 502nd post. I still remember when friends from RMS kept telling me to start a blog. I hesitated at first because I did not think I would have anything to post. I was in Florida a day after my daughter's wedding, sitting in my Florida home alone with nothing to do. That's when I gathered all my courage and started writing and uploading photos of the wedding. It's all been history from there. And of course, it would not be fun without any of you. Reading all your comments is such a joy. Everybody is so nice and kind and I love visiting your blogs too. I think I will be lost with you.

And so, to show my gratitude, I am having a giveaway. I hope you like them. I selected items that would not be too heavy to send out.

The winner will get

a magnolia painting that I did myself (so don't expect it to look like a pro did it, lol)

a basket that was made in the Philippines

a "Friends" picture frame

a vintage set of Sheffield pewter coffee pot (federal style?). It has a few dings but I think it is still cute and functional.

a rose brooch pin

If you want to have a chance to win, which is open to all my blogspot followers (old and new), just leave me a comment in this post. You do not have to have a blog to enter as long as you follow and post a comment. I should have a way to contact you though so I can get your address to ship the items to. Good luck!

I printed the first 3 months of my blog into a book. If you are interested in doing this, you can go to http://sharedbook.com/ to get more info.
I would have printed more but it only allows a maximum of 1500 photos per book. I ordered the first 3 months to see how I like it and I do like it very much so I will be ordering the next three months when I have time. I would like to have a complete library of it. You can pick your own cover. I thought my family would like to have it after I am gone. AJ saw it when she came for a visit and wanted it, lol.

Since this is a happy post, I would also like to share our birthday presents. As you know, John and I share the same birthday so unless we get struck with Alzheimer's disease, I don't think we will ever forget each other's birthday.

John gave me this sterling silver omega type swirly chain and pearl pendant. I love it!


I gave him a physicaan figure and a vintage doctor bag in alligator leather skin. I have been looking for one for quite sometime and I finally found one. He loves it! He said he has never owned one.

The figure is now sitting on his Asian file cabinet.


We bought ourselves a new Apple I pad 2. We will share it but the only time he wants to use it is when we are going somewhere and I am the one driving. He likes to use Google maps. So, I get to use more often, yippee!

We bought a smart leather cover for it from Apple. But I thought it wasn't enough because it only covers the front and the back is not protected. It's convenient though because it opens automatically when you flip the cover. I saw this case with a shoulder strap at Marshalls in Houston and got it. I really like it because it makes it so easy to carry it too. It fits right in it even with the top cover.

John also bought me a white gold emerald ring with diamonds. Diamond is our birthstone. I have rings with smaller emerald stones but I have been wanting to own an emerald solitaire and finally own one now. So needless to say, I LOVE IT!

I bought this emerald bracelet. It's only sterling silver because I cannot afford a white gold this thick but I think I can wear it to match the ring. It's my birthday gift to myself, lol.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you will leave a comment to get a chance to win the giveaway. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms again!